Pharma still skittish about outcomes measures

Much of the industry is still skittish about violating anti-kickback laws or about failing to adhere to the guidelines set forth by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), which are designed to ensure that the industry's medical education investments remain independent from commercial bias. The report found that as companies become more comfortable operating in the new compliance environment, they become more willing to track hard goals. In fact, a minority of companies consulted in Cutting Edge Information's research indicated that they are considering putting some basic annual objectives in place within by 2008...

The study shows that only 24% of participating pharmaceutical companies track return on investment for their CME activities. Tracking CME performance does not have to interfere with the industry's altruistic investments in medical education events. For example, one profiled company conducts randomized control trials to test the impact of educational events on physician behaviors, including prescribing habits.

I got a copy of this report, and plan to write it up for the December issue of Medical Meetings. I haven't had time to delve into it in great detail yet, but there are some really interesting findings in there. If there's anything in particular you'd really like to know, please e-mail me or leave a remark in the comments below. I'm looking forward to this one!